There is growing evidence that children living in stepfamilies are at greater risk of developing behavior problems, particularly aggressive, antisocial behavior problems, than children living in intact two-parent families. These children are also at high risk of serious long-term consequences including school drop-out and substance abuse. Despite the existence of an effective technology for treating behaviorally disturbed children within traditional family contexts, no research has examined the efficacy of intervention programs designed for children with behavior problems living in stepfamilies. This article reviews the stepfamily research literature to identify factors contributing to child behavior problems in the remarried family context. An integrated model of the development and maintenance of child behavior problems in stepfamilies is developed. Key areas relevant to the treatment of problems in the stepfamily context are discussed. A behavioral family intervention addressing the skills deficits identified in the model is outlined. The implications for the design of stepfamily interventions and issues relevant to conducting effective therapy are highlighted. There is a clear need for future research in this area. In particular, it is recommended that controlled trials be conducted of interventions that specifically address factors known to contribute to child behavior problems in stepfamilies, and which use state of the art behavioral family intervention techniques.

This is an author version of an article originally published as Ian M. Lawton and Matthew R. Sanders (1994) Designing effective behavioral family interventions for stepfamilies. Clinical Psychology Review, 14 5: 463-496. doi:10.1016/0272-7358(94)90037-X. Copyright 1994 Elsevier. All rights reserved. Single copies only may be downloaded and printed for a user’s personal research and study.